Ben 10: Villains Will Cry!
by Serendipitous House Pet
Summary: Pro hero with a love for smoothies, chili fries, and ladies? Check. Hot alien girls all over the place? Check. Bad guys of various shapes and sizes trying to take what they want? Check. A new partner and rookie in need of training? Yep, check. Ridiculous plot? Major check! I think we're in for a good time. Or should I say, HERO TIME!
1. Another Beginning

_**Disclaimer: Image used is not mine.**_

**XXXXX**

**It all started with a watch on a summer night**_..._

"Please be a cute alien girl, please be a cute alien girl." a ten year old boy muttered like a mantra over and over again as he made his way to the crash site of that meteor or whatever. In the crater, he found a capsule, "Cute alien girl?" he asked as the pod began to open...

**Things only escalated from there...**

_"I'm sorry Ben but I... I just think it would be best if we split up. We're just... just so distant now and... you..."_

Benjamin Tennyson was many things. A resident of Bellwood, a local hero of Bellwood, a planetary hero, a universal hero, a messiah on one occasion, a 'legit' play boy at one point, he was just an all-around hero really. Those titles didn't ease the pain though. He honestly felt at his lowest and not even the refreshing taste of a Mr. Smoothie's smoothie after bagging and tagging the maniac zombie clown Zombozzo with his cousin and brother-from-another-mother could ease his aching spirit. Breaking up with a long-time girlfriend you even went on a death defying adventure with could do that to a guy. He really did come to care for Julie. Maybe even...

"Yo…" and speaking of which, the couple returned to the car with their bags of food, "How ya holdin' up?" Kevin was naturally easy going after the whole "Psycho Phase" of his younger years passed but he was never soft spoken, especially to Ben, but this was a super sour case and Ben was a cool guy.

Ben hopped off the hood of the car, "Better than earlier," he replied, mustering up a smile.

Gwen saw right through that fake smile and placed a hand on her cousin's shoulder, "Ben, you know you can't lie to me right?" She asked rhetorically before pointing towards the drink in Ben's hand. "You've only had two of those."

Kevin winced at Ben's lack of smoothie consumption, the guy was defiantly shutdown, "Jeez."

Ben sighed, "That obvious huh?" he idly twirled the now empty cup around before tossing it in the trash, "You'd think the guy who took down world ending tyrants could handle himself better," he muttered in a scolding tone as he put his hands in his pocket, not facing the couple as he spoke. He didn't mean for his partners to hear it but they did.

Gwen and Kevin gave each other a worried glance before the former spoke up, "Ben if you need us to stay-"

Ben knew what she was going to say and swiftly cut her off as he turned to face her, "hey, don't let my problems slow you guys down," he said, holding his hands up while he mustered up another smile, a tad more genuine, "I'll bounce back like always." He already felt weak as it is, so halting his cousin from her studies would only make him feel worse, make him feel weak. He saw this as his personal struggle and no one else's.

Gwen wanted to protest a little further but Kevin put an arm around her shoulder while his eyes were locked with Ben's, "Okay man, but call anytime you need to chit-chat. I'm serious."

"Of course." Ben chuckled before he gave Kevin a teasing glare, "gotta make sure you treat my cousin right."

Gwen snorted while Kevin lazily rolled his eyes and said, "Whatever." He then held out his fist and Ben returned the gesture to completes the fist bump.

Gwen walked up and gave him tight hug which Ben returned without hesitation, "Take care, Ben."

"You too." Ben replied as they broke apart. Ben watched the couple go into the car and drive off to start their own adventure. Without him. Ben smiled until they were out of sight and started his trek home as the evening came while the sun had nearly departed. Now he felt utterly miserable. No girlfriend and no team. Cash and JT were cool but not exactly hangout material for Ben. Being a hero meant a lot of explosions and both of the boys, being normal civilians, were quite allergic to that. And just because he was famous didn't mean he had a big social clique to choose from. In fact, it probably decreased it do to the amount of fan love he would get in comparison to genuine love.

Ben was officially alone now.

He grumbled to himself as he reached his home, "Looks I'm in for a lame time."

If only he knew.

**XXXXX**

"Remember… Rook, right?" Ben asked as the Plumber transport landed in what appeared to be an abandoned Midwestern town in the middle of a barren plain. The next day, Ben had got an assignment to check out a disturbance of an alien variety.

"Rook Blonko is my full name but you may refer to me as Rook," said the alien man in blue armor and carrying some type of tool or device stepping out of the cargo hold alongside Ben. Speaking of which, Ben was simultaneously given a new partner to train. He didn't want to do this but he knew his career choice would eventually call for this and thus, he sucked it up and rolled with it. No point in complaining since he was a hero after all.

"Right." Ben nodded as he spoke and wrapped an arm around Rook's shoulder, bringing him closer to eye level. He chuckled, "Lighten up, newbie. I'm not a working stiff."

"I assumed you were limber and do you think I'm over encumbered?" Rook asked as he brought up his device, "because I only brought my proto-tool and some medical paste."

Ben stared at him for a few seconds before clapping his hands together, "How often did you leave the farm?"

"Other than my time in the plumber academy and the Plumber base, this would be my first time truly out." Rook explained.

Ben released a breath and placed a hand on Rook's shoulder, "You and me are gonna have fun." He said sarcastically. Ben didn't dislike Rook, he just disliked the idea of not working with his usual crew. A bad break up, his cousin and best friend leave for college, and now he's gotta look after a new guy fresh off the farm with no experience to Ben's type of social interaction? Needless to say, Ben was very displeased with the status quo change.

Rook grinned, clearly not understanding sarcasm, "I'm pleased to hear this. I was afraid you'd see my naivety as aggravating."

Ben shook his head as he lead the rookie to the location of disturbance. Under better circumstances, his sarcastic comment would actually be genuine. He couldn't outright dislike this guy but damn the timing! Slowly, Ben decreased his walking pace as the sound of ripping and tearing of buildings became louder along with deep inhuman snarls. Cautiously, Ben and Rook, holding onto his proto-tool, turned the corner.

Lumbering over a small, torn down building was a large centaur like alien around sixteen tall, colored reddish brown with a black underside. His lower body was like that of a canine while his upper body was vaguely more humanoid though his hands sported large talons as well. Spikes of varying sizes resided on his humanoid back and clustered around the larger spikes running down the spine. The alien stopped in his tracks and turned to reveal his visage, a set of blazing red eyes on a canine like face lined with vicious teeth.

A deep snarl rumbled from his throat as he spotted the hero, "Ben Ten."

"Taka-Han, my main chef!" Ben guffawed as he stepped out into the open. Rook halted as Ben held out a hand, signalling him for him to stay in his current place, "been a while."

"Not long enough, insect."

"Insect?" Ben parroted in an exaggerated tone of hurt and placed his hands over his chest, "I thought I was a morsel."

"I would never lower myself to consuming you... at least not in that form." he spoke as he slowly approached Ben. He looked towards Rook and a malicious grin etched itself on his face, "Your friend on the other hand looks like an exotic snack."

Ben dry heaved in disgust, "First off, don't say it like that. You and Kevin sound waaay too much alike…" then he pointed towards the now confused Rook, "Second, I'm sure Rook doesn't swing your way."

Rook's head tilted in confusion, "Swing his way?"

Taka-Han snorted in disdain at such a joke but Ben paid him no mind and laughed, "We'll discuss it later, Rook." Ben held up his Omnitrix and went through his alien selection, "I want you to hang back for this one. This'll make for a better demonstration really. Maybe even take some notes on this class 10 Tennyson beatdown while you're at it."

Rook gave him a salute and retreated back to a "safer" distance. He mentally scolded himself for not having anything to take notes with. He should've known better.

Taka-Han snarled, his hands morphing into blades as he closed the distance between himself and Ben, "You believe the fight to be in your favor!?"

Ben couldn't help but get more smug at this question, "Didn't I kick your scaly hide when I was ten? With a prototype Omnitrix might I add?"

"My species grow stronger with loss," Taka-Han rumbled, raking his arm blades together in a threat display and roared, "History will not repeat itself!"

"By that logic, you should be unbeatable!" The hero guffawed to Taka-Han's ever growing rage. Suddenly Ben's smirk fell and his jovial attitude was gone, replaced by the more serious side of him due to the displeasure he currently felt, "So, what brought you here anyway? Answer me and you may not end up in critical condition."

Taka-Han roared again, "I will tell you nothing! My reasons are my own, Insect!" with that, Taka-Han charged forward and Ben slammed his hand down on the Omnitrix. A flash of green light erupted and momentarily blinded the alien as he brought down his arms on Ben in an effort to dismember him. Instead of gore and viscera, teal colored crystals greeted his eyes.

"Ultimate Diamondhead!" Ben's form had transformed into an evolved Petrosapian right before Taka-Han's eyes. His body was less bulky than before but he was harder, more compact. He now had four spikes protruding from his back and his outfit consisted of black pants with a green top that ran black along the sides. The Omnitrix symbol, if course, resided on his chest, "Have it your way then. Hope that regeneration eases the hurt that's gonna drop on you."

"Rraargh!" Ben jumped back as Taka-Han swung his arm blades down again. Ben's hands morphed numerous jagged spikes and started blasting off like a minigun towards the larger alien's upper body. The first volley of crystals struck his body with ease until Taka-Han raised up his arm blades to block the other shots. To Taka-Han's utter dismay, the arm blades didn't deflect the shots but were simply pierced themselves, albeit the crystal shards didn't embed themselves deep into his arms, "What treachery is this!?"

Ben's smirk grew, "Evolved petrosapien, bro! I'm harder than ever!"

Taka-Han snarled and his body pushed out the crystals, "You'll die just like any other petrosapian, cretin!"

"See, Rook!? This is what I like to call fight dialogue!" Ben yelled as he and the alien were locked in a clash of blades, Ben moving to and fro to avoid being struck directly while making counterattacks of his own. Taka-Han was nicked and even stabbed on occasion but his flesh would regenerate anew in seconds. Still, at this point, Ben was only warming up and felt the need to work off some stress with a prolonged fight since no one was in danger from the combat.

"I've made a mental note, Mr. Tennyson!" Rook replied from the distance atop one of the buildings, making all the mental notes of every word said and action taken. _'Magister Tennyson was correct in his statements regarding Ben's more... unorthodox style of handling aggressors.'_

"It's just Ben!" the hero yelled as he parried a slash and slid under Taka-Han to surprise him. Another green flashed and, "Ultimate Humongosaur!" the transformation allowed Ben to toss Taka-Han into the air before catching him by his hind legs and spin around, "Ready for a 'round the world' special!?" he asked, spinning and gaining momentum as his spin went on and on.

"Release me, beast!" Taka-Han growled and neighed in protest, uselessly clawing at the ground as dizziness began to make his vision blur, "I said release me!"

"As you say!" Ben mockingly replied by the tenth spin, releasing his grip and throwing Taka-Han face first into a building. Ben chuckled, dusting his hands off to further taunt his currently floored opponent, "Catch that one, Rook!?"

"No... and I don't believe I could without being crushed, Ben!" Rook was starting to become concerned. Did the watch make Ben lose some parts of his rationality and thus make him more destructive? Rook shook his head, that couldn't be it. As Magister Tennyson put it, there should be a method to his madness.

"I wasn't being literal!" Ben called out as his hands turned into rocket launchers. Taka-Han crashed from the rubble, bits of wood being dislodged from his flesh and foam leaking from mouth thanks to his literal frothing rage, "Ready for another trip? It'll be a blast!" Ben started unleashing a rapid volley of rocket fire towards the charging alien. To Ben's surprise, Taka-Han only lost bits of flesh and his charged barely slowed.

"Explosives are futile!" Taka-Han thrusted his blades up to rend Ben's head from his shoulders but the hero caught his arms and roughly brushed them aside. He grabbed his enemy by the shoulder and lifted him overhead.

"What about body slams!?" Ben roared excitedly as he fell backwards to slam the alien down which caused a cloud of debris to rise from the powerful impact. Taka-Han groaned in pain as he slowly began to rise, barely noticing another green flash from behind him, "Ultimate Diamondhead! As fun as this is, I think it's time for you to tap out."

"A Hasei never retreats!" Taka-Han said shakily as he rose up to his full height to look down at Ben who began to unleash another volley of crystals towards him. Taka-Han channelled all his rage from within, making his muscles swell and glow red, and began to slash at a rapid pace while his skin around his arms managed to harden further, allowing him to deflect most of the crystals with the exceptions of a few that pierced his body, "It'll take more than that!"

"What about all that?" Ben cockily retorted as he pointed behind the enraged alien. Taka-Han quirked a brow and hesitantly looked at his surroundings. The crystals he deflected were now floating around him, nearly hundreds of them poised to impale him at the snap of Ben's fingers. Actually, Ben didn't even have to do that. One mental command and they came all at once, making Taka-Han screech in both agony and fury, "And now for the grand finisher!" Ben yelled as he clasped his hands together.

"No! No!" Taka-Han roared as the crystals began to grow on his flesh, quickly trapping him in an unbreakable prison. In one last attempt to kill Ben, his arm blade came down to behead his target. Ben didn't even flinch since the blade stopped an inch away from his neck and the last of Taka-Han was imprisoned in a crystalline formation.

"Now that's art." Ben comically gasped as he reverted to normal, "Alright Rook, show's over!"

"That was indeed an impressive show of strength. Though..." Rook stopped to take a gander at the wrecked scenery, "I believe you could've ended that fight earlier and saved up on damages."

Ben went into a thinking pose the shrugged, "Yeah. But that wouldn't be as fun."

"Noted," Rook replied in a dry monotone before taking a glance at said work of art, "I'll contact the plumber base and let them know Taka-Han Bhan has been subdued and in need of transport."

"Cool. I'm gonna take a few pictures. Become the next Donatello maybe." Ben jested only to realize his jest was completely lost on his audience of one.

Rook quizzically quirked a brow, "What does that mean? I thought you liked your current name."

"... Nevermind." Ben replied in a dull tone as he walked to the currently encased alien with his phone out, "One quick pic and then I'll see what this guy's fuss was all about."

Meanwhile, Ben's other unknown observer let out a sinister chuckle as he put away some type of binocular device that also functioned for recording, "Ben Tennyson. Truly the greatest prey this galaxy has to offer so far," the figure gave off a soft whistle which drew a dark blue doglike alien towards him which he idly began to pet and caress, "but I must remain patient. I need to witness more personally."

It didn't take too long to get back to the plumber base along with the criminal chef and with help of Ultimate Diamondhead, they broke the crystals off of his body... partially, enough for him to talk, eat, and use the restroom, more importantly, figure out why he was rampaging in that area in the first place "A dinosaur perfectly encased in crystal under that town... and you wanted to make it into ingredients for some type of stir-fry!?" Ben yelled at Taka-Han, who was locked up in a plumber cell more attuned to his species size and needs, "Are you braindead, imagine the money you could make!"

Taka-Han took offense to this question and snapped back, "My passion is fuelled by the creation of the most intricate cuisines with my noble blades! Monetary gain means nothing to me, Insect!"

"You must be to your kind as Blukic and Driba are to the galvans!" Ben yelled as his gestured to the duo next to him as they ran maintenance of the upper level cell.

"Hey!" yelled Driba, the more portly and short galvan.

"Not that's uncalled for." Spoke Blukic, the taller and slender galvan.

Ben sent a withering glare their way, making them shiver, "Don't drink my smoothies then, you amphibious gnomes," he said dryly. Sometimes he regretted introducing the duo to his favorite drink. It was nice to bond over at first but they eventually could get a little carried away and steal his. Not cool at all.

"Gnomes?" Questioned Rook as he came to the scene after delivering the criminal report.

"I'll show you later," Sighed Ben as he started walking away with the revonahgander in tow. Said revonahgander noticed how the young man wasn't as "pumped" as earlier this morning. He looked more forlorn really. That didn't fit his description at all.

Rook decided to point it out, "You seem less lively than usual. Does something trouble you?"

"What?" Ben Squawked. He mentally cursed himself for nearly moping in front of the newbie, "No, It's fine. I haven't energized myself yet."

"Ah," Rook reached into his pouch and pulled out a Plumber issued energy bar, "Would this help?"

Ben wretched and motioned for Rook to put the bar away, "I require chili fries, dude. Those are what sustain the stud in front of you. Also smoothies."

Rook nodded in understanding, since he didn't like the bars either, and put the bar back in his pouch, "If that's the case then perhaps we should stop by the mess hall or one of the earth restaurants?"

Ben patted him on the back, "Good idea. I got the perfect place in mind."

**XXXXX**

"Two large chili fries and two large smoothies my good man!" Ben yelled as both him and Rook came to the Mr. Smoothies serving window. Today, Rook would learn the glory of one, if not, the greatest restaurant in the galaxy. Maybe even the universe. Rook doubted this claim but wisely kept his doubts regarding Mr. Smoothies to himself.

"Coming right up, sir!" replied the ever friendly fast food worker.

Ben and Rook immediately took a seat at one of the tables. "So, Rook, what do you think of Earth?"

"It's proven interesting so far…" Rook answered, a pinch of excitement in his tone, "My first official assignment with Ben Tennyson and that assignment lead to an encounter with a Hasei. Not to mention seeing the Omnitrix function first hand."

"And buddy, it tends to get crazier." Ben replied mirthfully before he spotted someone come over to their table with the tray of food, "Talk about fast food." Ben quipped. It was about to be set down when multiple police sirens went off in the distance and halted the duo. With a groan Ben asked, "Can we get these to go?"

Nearby the duo's location, a squadron of police cars were chasing down a building hopping figure in a purple coat with white fur lining and a face mask carrying a capsule on her back with a glowing, red ball inside it. The figure leaped from building with ease and was more than capable of outmanoeuvring the standard police force. The police cars tried to regroup but had to stop around a random and inconvenient truck overturned in the middle of the road. Numerous officers exited their vehicles and looked on in frustration as the target was escaping.

"Yo!" Ben called out, approaching the police in his standard laidback fashion. The cop either released breathes of relief or cheered as he came, "Take it you guys got a runner too slick to catch?"

"You don't know the half of it." A portly Scottish officer replied, "The perp stole some type of nuclear device and booked it. None of us could reach the slippery thug."

"Don't worry chief, me and the newbie got this." Ben said as he tapped on the Omnitrix and turned into, "Crashhopper!" He transformed into an insectoid alien, resembling that of an earth grasshopper, "Don't think I'll need an ultimate form for this," he said before hopping off towards the target.

"I'm not the chief." The cop muttered rather bitterly. He turned to Rook and said, "Be careful, sir."

Rook nodded with small smile and primed his proto-tool, "Of course. That's a prerequisite for Plumbers."

Meanwhile, Ben was hot on the person's trail, easily closing the distance between him and the runner, who he could now see was female, "Hey, you know running from the cops is illegal on this planet right?" He immediately went to grab her but she leapt over him, "You're a quick lady." he stated as he went for another grab only for her to slide under his arm.

She fell off the building but thanks to her stretchy arms, she grabbed on a beam for a building under construction and flipped onto it. She ran all the way to end and stopped to see an approaching Ben with a cocky grin on his face, "Looks like you're at the end of your rope, hot stuff."

She grinned herself, "Not really, hot stuff." Ben got a feeling she was trying to pull a fast one and charged. She was a faster by a fraction of a second and flipped over him again, losing her mask in the process. Ben got a good glimpse of her attractive pink face, locking his green eyes with her purple ones in that instant. Hot stuff indeed.

He repositioned himself mid-fall and landed on the roof of a building, missing the pool by a couple of feet. Thank goodness for his natural armor and strong legs, "Shoo shoo, go away." A middle aged woman told him.

"Sorry for the intrusion." He laughed. He turned back to the girl who once again used her stretchy arms to stop her fall and land back on the beam.

"You're never at the end of your rope when you've got the reach!" She stated. Her cocky smirk immediately died when the glow item in the container fell from the capsule on her back and down to the street below. Ben let out a quick, "Ha!" and went below to get a good glance at it.

Judging from the way it melted into the ground, touching it as Crashhopper was out of the question. Before he could transform into some alien that could hold it, the girl used her elastic arm to retrieve the ball of energy and place it back in the capsule. The heat had no effect on her or her clothes, which themselves seemed out of place in this hot weather, so it was safe to assume she was a heat based alien, "Hey, Ben! Fun fact, I prefer your true form over that one! It suits you much more!" She winked and parkoured out of sight.

Ben was stunned for a moment before he let out an amused snort, "She made off with a fusion device." Rook calmly told Ben as he ran up next to him with his proto-tool in scanner mode to track down the stolen core, "It's defiantly in our best interest to get that back."

"Ain't got to tell me twice," Ben said as he reverted to normal, obviously to Rook's amusement, "What's got you giggly all of a sudden?"

"Our thief's earlier statement and you returning to her preferred form of you is all." Rook said in joking manner, surprising Ben.

"Teasing me over a cute alien girl's compliment already?" Ben questioned with a laugh and slapped Rook on the back, "And here I thought you were more of a by the book stiff."

"How did I appear stiff?"

**XXXXX**

**First off, A big helping heap of love for my boi Guikoi!**

_**My first Ben 10 Fanfic! Alright, let's establish some things:**_

_**-For Ben, Kevin, and Gwen's looks, I'm sticking to Ben 10 Ultimate. However, Ben wears the white and green hoodie now while Gwen while wear the cat shirt. That is all regarding looks.**_

_**-I wrote this after feeling inspired by DMC but obviously this isn't a crossover in any way. I'm also reimagining things for Ben 10: Omniverse with these what ifs: What if Ben was treated like the genuine threat he really is? What if the show did more with the alien Waifus? What if Omniverse didn't throw away character development? What if Ben paired with a likeable girl(s). I don't hate Kai, I hate what the show did and how they used Kai. Even if you ship them, admit it, what the writers did was trash. Seriously, I question a lot of the choices the writers made for Omniverse as o**__**nly thing really great about it was the Waifus and Rook, let's be real y'all**_**. **_**The series before Omniverse was great. Omniverse was a let down in so many ways compared to the series before it. As for the reboot, it can at least do some interesting things and character traits. Don't care for that redesign though... Reboot is also a let down by the way.**_

_**-Yes, this takes place in Omniverse. But I'm gonna do Omniverse differently: Ben isn't going to be an immature idiot... in a sense that it feels like Alien Force and Ultimate never happened. And the people will actually treat Ben like he's a real threat/celebrity a good chunk of time. Because he is and the show kinda forgot that. Second, more Waifu use. Third, Ben will be more flirtatious and well, like Dante and fight like Nero from DMC. I mean, I could see him developing like that, especially in his teens. Yes, by the way, I'm shaking young Ben up for the fun of it. Plus, I thought it would be cool and hopefully, you'll agree. Fourth, Ultimates shall be used. Because those are cool. Lastly, Ben and Rook will have a teacher/student relationship.**_

_**-Taka-Han is the Samurai Chef alien from Ben 10 (2016) reboot only redesigned by me to be more monstrous and given a name along with a species name, which is Hasei. I was feeling inspired from Berial from DMC4 for his redesign. Go DMC!**_

_**-Anyone who gets my reference with that Dinosaur trapped in crystal earns a cookie.**_

_**-Finally, Julie won't be bashed. I don't want to make the relationship like that. Fun fact, people break up but they aren't always assholes to each other after.**_

_**'Kay, bye now.**_


	2. Stretchy and Blazing

Ben groaned in mild frustration as his watched timed out. The watch timing wasn't the reason why he groaned however. "Sewers. Never was fond of chases that led down into those."

"I could imagine so," Rook added in plainly, "I've heard tales that vicious creatures lurk in those."

"That was more of Dr. Animo thing really." Ben muttered robotically, rubbing the back of his head as he prepared himself for another trip through the sewage system. It's not not he was worried about getting messy or the potentially unpleasant smell, plenty of aliens to take care of that problem, but dark, moist, cramped places were just rather uncomfortable for him. He doubted the perp they were chasing has any monsters down there for him.

"Dr. Animo? I read the files on that man." Rook said as he and Ben jumped down the ledge where the opening of the pipe lay. "Seems a few, how you say, a few sandwiches shy on a loaf."

"Yeah," Ben drawled, "That's one way to put it." He walked in, Rook close behind with his proto-tool drawn in weapon form just in case anything tried to catch them unaware. For a several steps it was nothing but darkness and dirty water until light and noise started to echo through the tunnel.

Rook kept his eyes trained on the surroundings but he voiced his thoughts, "I take it sewers here aren't meant to be this noisy."

"Nope." Ben answered with a pop on the P. "Hey Rook, ever hear of cities below cities?"

"I believe what you are referring to is Undertown. And yes, I have." The young alien answered and turned from facing their back to see the light at the end of the tunnel. He heard Ben mumble something under his breath. 'Thank God' or something like that.

The duo jumped down to the streets below and Rook transformed the proto-tool back into its tracking mood while Ben pulled out some water. He drank half of it and splashed the other half on his head while he started removing his hoodie.

"Jeez, if the topside was frying pan then this place is the oven!" Ben complained as he wrapped his hoodie around his waist. His shirt that was previously underneath the thicker garment, a black shirt with green line going down the middle while a white ten was on the chest area.

Rook quirked a brow in confusion, "I'm not familiar with your terms but it's quite hot down here."

"Yes, that is indeed what I mean." Ben shook his head to get the excess water off, uncaring of where it splashed to the chagrin of the nearby aliens... who began to realize who he was.

"Holy schmekels! You're Ben 10 aren't you!?" A random Tetramand yelled and pointed. Soon, more aliens started chattering and coming over to the commotion the Tetramand started. Normally, any yelling coming from a Tetramand warranted one to back away for their safety but when one yelled about a celebrity being around,that warranted curiosity more than mortal terror

"Crap." Said hero muttered under his breath before he turned to the guy with a wide grin to mask the nervousness. "No, I'm just a lookalike!"

This froze the aliens in their tracks and one little Kinnceleran angrily shouted, "Are you one those shifty, shapeshifter types!?"

"Yep. The guy needed me for while while he was doing some hero stuff... in that building over there!" Ben pointed to Pakmar's toilet emporium, "If you're fast, you may catch him in action!" Most of the aliens ran towards the emporium without hesitation while some of the less mob oriented ones stayed behind. "Guys, the real Ben 10 has a watch that won't come off." To demonstrate his point, he undid the straps and removed the watch from his wrist. "See?"

That convinced the last of the crowd and they went off to find the "real" Ben Tennyson. Ben gave himself a mental pat on the back and turned to his partner who said, "I too thought the Omnitrix was more secure to your wrist."

Ben shrugged. "It is but old grandpa Asmuth designed it so only I could remove it easily."

"Grandpa Asmuth?" Rook questioned. There was no way those two were kin. Right?

"Nickname to annoy him." Ben explained. "No actual blood relation."

Rook nodded, "Ah, I see. Odd." He said as he turned to the tracker. "Also strange. It says the runner is in front of us but all that's in front of us is an empty stand of junk."

"Not junk. Good stuff." The alien in a garb tried to clarify in the form of a typical salesman. "Good parts for vehicles."

Rook only narrowed his eyes but kept his eyes on the tracker, "Yes but no, junk."

Ben hummed and looked upwards. Lo and behold, their runner was doing stretch parkour on the roof pipes like a purple alien Tarzan. "Rook, the scanner is correct. Look up, buster."

Rook did as he was told and saw the young woman. Both Plumbers sprung into action, Ben turning into Crash Hopper once more and springing towards her while Rook pulled off his own parkour skills. Rook would be the the one running close behind her while Ben cut off her escape yet again.

He landed right in front of her and said with his hands on his hips, "Stop right there, criminal scum. You've violated the law."

The girl smirked. "Lemme guess, gold or blood?"

Ben smirked right back. Looks like he found a kindred spirit in this one. He could dig that.

Of course, Rook, the sweet ignorant soul he was, didn't get it. "Actually, all you have to do is hand over the device and receive jail time."

The girl giggled while Ben let out a sigh. "Anyway, hand over that fusion device and things don't have get crazy. What do ya say?"

"Hmm." The girl hummed before using the power of her stretchy legs to jump over to a pipe away from the duo and yelled, "Sorry but crazy sounds more fun."

Crash Hopper shook his head, "Take a mental note, Rook. This will usually happen more often than not." He sprang off after the girl his partner close behind.

The girl they were chasing was quick footed and quick witted, they had to give her that. She used her body's abilities to maneuver away from the duo. Whenever Room got close she would hop over to another pipe or wrap around one. If Ben got near her she could make a mock move to pull back or change her direction or trajectory whereas Ben couldn't stop himself or change course. Hell, her acrobatics alone were impressive.

"You know the chase has gotta end at some point. And I don't tire easy." Ben yelled as the girl flipped over his head.

"Neither do I." She yelled back jovially. She was clearly having fun. At least until she slipped up on a wet pipe. This moment of unsteadiness gave Ben the chance he needed to tackle her. Right as his watched timed out too.

They landed on the soft ground below next to a large pipe opening. Ben sat up and said breathlessly, "It's over, lady. You're pinned and soon to be busted."

"Ugh." She groaned before her eyes opened and she smiled, "At least you got me in your good form."

Ben chuckled out, "Flattery won't save you. Even if your not bad looking yourself."

"Nice work, Ben!" Rook praised as he landed beside them. "Now, let us return to the surface. I'm quite hot down here."

"You will go nowhere with her, cold cuts!" A deep, gravelly voice shouted from the pipes, numerous sets of footsteps accompanied with it getting closer. From the pipe emerged several humanoids with pink skin and all of their eyebrows large and white like the girls but unlike her, they were more alien looking. "Ester, stop playing with cold cuts and bring the fusion device to us." The one in the middle in the blue parka, no doubt the leader, had barked.

"Of course." The girl, Ester, sighed out dejectedly. She moved Ben off and went over to her group as they came closer to make sure she could get to them without the Plumber duo from impeding her.

"Ben," Rook whispered as he moved closer to the rising teen, "I believe these are tungsten based lifeforms."

A lazy reply followed. "Uh huh." Ben wasn't exactly the bluntest tool in the shed but nor was he the sharpest.

"Kraaho." Rook clarified while he mentally prepared himself for the fight that will follow.

"Now then let us destroy them!" The leader of the Kraaho yelled right as Ester was about to walk past him. She stopped and faced the chief with a shocked expression.

"Seebik, No!" She yelled. "This isn't the Kraaho way! And that's Ben Ten!"

Seebik snorted and turned to said boy with a glare. "I know who he is and I am prepared."

"Bet you you're not!" Ben playfully shouted at him.

Seebik ignored him and continued, "and furthermore, the way of our tribe is what I say it is. I am the chieftain. Now go to the Hotspot!" Ester turned to Ben and Rook with one last concerned look and did as she was told. No one saw as her face slowly morphed from sadness to anger.

"Seebik, can we get o-on with it. My eyebrows a-a-are turning into icicles." A more portly Kraaho on Seebik's right side urged.

While clearly annoyed by his lackey's display he listened to his words. Seebik wanted to get this over too despite his stoicism. "Yes. Warriors begin!" His fellow Kraaho spread out in a semi circle and stretched their arms to lock hands. Then they began to stop on the floor in sync.

"Look's they're tryin' to off us tribal style." Ben surmised, flipping through his watch for a suitable alien.

"Off us? As in kill us right?" Rook inquired. Another term Rook hadn't known but given the context clues he figured correctly.

"Yep." Ben clarified as he found something good to transform into. "Ah, perfect." The slap on the wrist and a green flash followed. What appeared was a large rocky, reddish brown humanoid. He resembled a planet. He was honestly a living planet rightfully dubbed, Gravattack!"

"First, you'll be weightless!" Ben shouted, raising his arms up and lifting the Kraaho up, "and then you'll - uh." He froze as his watch began to time out and he turned back to his usual self. "Crap! I forgot my transform time would be shorter!" Ben groaned in frustration at having a lapse in judgement and his now powerless state.

Rook was confused by this new wave of information as Ben's file stated something different. "I thought you could go for long periods of time with that watch."

"Not after multiple ultimate uses. They drain the poor battery." Ben explained while also wondering more about what his files said. Ah well, he figured it could wait until after the tribesmen were settled down. "Rook, I wouldn't exactly call myself a pushover but I'm not sure my human hand to hand combat skills will be much against these guys." He warned as the Kraaho got up, looking very displeased by Ben's attempt at an attack.

Rook moved beside Ben with his proto-tool in blaster mode. "Have no fear. I will cover you in the meantime."

The Kraaho all rose only to be knocked down again by a sudden large blast of water. The Plumber duo look above to Ester had came back and turned on a pipe to blast her people and aid the duo. All of the Kraaho started producing large amounts of mist and ran around in panic from the sudden relatively freezing waters hitting them. With that distraction, Ester rushed over to the Plumber duo and carried them off to safety while the Kraaho below struggled to regain composure save for Seebik who watched them go with distaste.

"That damn half breed and her sentiments." He muttered in agitation before turning to his right hand man. With a defeated sigh, he went over to pull his idiot of a pipe his tongue got stuck on. _'Where did her father go wrong?'_

**XXXXX**

"Thanks for the help back there." Ben spoke as they made there way onto the streets of Bellwood. "But I gotta ask: why?"

"We just wanted the fusion core." Ester answered brightly before her face soured. "Though, Seebik always has to take it to another level."

"No kidding. Still, me and Rook are gonna go back there to stop whatever it is there doing." Rook nodded at Ben's statement, more than eager to dish out some justice on thieves and attempted off-ers.

Ester held up her hands and attempted to placate the duo. "There's really no need. My people just wanted the fusion core to to keep their place warm, that's it." Rook glared while Ben gave her an unconvinced look. She laughed a little nervously and continued. "And besides they won't be much of a problem. They can't even come up to the surface since it's so cold out."

"This is cold for them, huh." It was 100° degrees out but to be fair, different aliens require different needs. But that wasn't the main issue. "I can't really left theft like that slide but I'm not exactly a harsh lawman." Ben held his hand up to his chin in thought, trying his best to ignore Ester's pleading look and Rook's shocked gaze. "I'm gonna have a chat with them about that but I won't hurt anyone. As long as it's for survival and no one's getting hurt then I can overlook some stuff."

"Yes!" Ester cheered with a fist pump.

"Is that wise?" Rook questioned. This broke a good deal of protocols and didn't strike him as professional.

Ben waved that comment off. "Rook, some aliens don't know the law of the land and others are just trying to stay alive. And it's not like anyone got hurt."

"They attempted to hurt us." Rook protested in a monotone voice.

Ben rolled his eyes with smile. "Yeah, that will happen. A lot." Rook froze and wanted to say more but his partner beat him to the punch with his own question for Ester. "Say, you said the Kraaho can't really come out here but how come you can?"

Ester stretched her limbs a little. "I'm only half Kraaho. To me, it's only nippy out." She stated proudly.

"Huh, interesting." Ben remarked.

"Hey Ester!" They group turned to the side to see a group of child Kincceleran holding hockey waving. The smallest girl came forward and asked. "Wanna play with us?"

"Sure!" She said to the joy of the children. She turned to the plumbers, "friends of mine." She explained before running over to them.

The Kincceleran girl looked over to Ben, gulped, did a double take and nervously asked. "You wanna play with us too. We know your busy and stuff, what with being a hero and all, but you know, if your free."

"Sure!" Ben answered to the child's jubilation. She ran off to inform her friends while Rook held Ben back. "What's wrong?" Ben asked, confused about his partner's action.

"Don't you think this a waste of valuable time? And, might I add, your following a thief to play with children." Rook incredulously spoke, very confused and uncomfortable with the way Ben was currently handling the situation.

"Rook, you gotta lighten up." Ben gently removed Rooks hand off and continued, "Besides, the situation can be handled at our leisure. Now, you can stand here and keep watch of join us. Your call my dude." With that last tidbit, Ben made his way to the children and Ester, leaving Rook behind in a pure state of confusion.

"This makes no sense." Rook mumbled, "While his actions are not exactly criminal he isn't displaying many of those heroic qualities I heard about. Especially letting thieves go unchecked." He stood in thought and sighed, "Maybe I am being too judgmental. Still, this is not proper Plumber conduct nor heroic conduct from what I've heard. I hope I nor the files wasn't wrong." His monologue ceased as he witnessed Ben transform into his Kincceleran form.

"Alright gang, now I'll give you a taste of some real speed." Ben, getting tired of trying and failing to keep up with the aliens decided it was time to give them a taste of their own medicine. And maybe show off for Ester a tad. _'Maybe I could show them the little tornado trick while I'm at. Julie always -'_ He shook his. Not the time for that. "Now try to keep up." He playfully taunted.

As the slice of life continued above a plan was set into motion so below. In an area even further down than Under Town, Seebik was having his fellow tribesmen load the the fusion core into a specialized drill. All around them were lava pits with huts set up around them. Once the core was loaded into the drill, Seebik waved his arm up and set it down.

The machine began to spin the fusion core and a laser bore into the earth. Seebik smiled, satisfaction filling him as he took in the sights and sound of a job soon to be well done. "Finally." His portly sidekick sighed out. "It was getting so cold that I was getting frostbite on my -"

"Enough with the cold jokes! They weren't funny the first time, it was somewhat funny at the midpoint, but now they're infuriating!" Seebik barked, rather fed up with his lackey's sense of anti humor.

"Frostbite." He finished dejectedly.

"Seebik! We've struck magma!" Another, less portly underling informed the chief.

Seebik let out a guffaw, "Now it's time we made things to our liking, uh, topside."

"Bellwood." The portly Kraaho told him as he lowered his hood.

Seebik gave him a dry stare but choose to ignore him and roared joyously, "now we make way for new Bellwood!"

As for Bellwood, Ben had placed a towel on a currently wet Ester who had been doused by water hazard as joke. "Anyone ever tell you you're a bit of an ass?" She told him. The insult had no sting to it since her tone was so amused.

Ben shrugged, "I only hear stuff like that every day." His head jerked forward due to a stray water balloon hitting the back of his head. He chuckled, "And I always get my comeuppance."

Ester giggled and blew the water off of his head. She took that moment to really take in his features. He was good looking up close and his green eyes added to the appeal. His bright smile only added to the further appeal. She could feel herself blushing and nearly hid her face on impulse. She hoped he wouldn't notice.

Ben noticed, it was hard for him not to. He didn't let her know he knew. He couldn't. He didn't know how to take it. It wasn't a big deal, she was only blushing. Still though...

Rook, meanwhile, was learning to play "Skip Rope" with the children. Though he did take glances at Ester while he did so in order to make sure she didn't try anything.

The the explosions came and shook the very ground they stood. The concrete down the street began to crack open and like a mighty geyser, magma spewed fourth. No one was around but it looked like the magma would hit the houses at any moment.

The children ran away in panic and Ben sprang into immediate action and transformed into the cryo powered reptilian known as Arctiguana! He released a deep breath and spewed a clone of cold the cooled the magma into igneous rocks before any more damage could be done.

Ben changed back and turned towards Ester along with Rook, the former more inquisitive while the latter was more scolding. "I had no idea they'd do this! I swear!"

"That doesn't matter, you helped." Rook growled authoritatively. He knew that this young woman wasn't trustworthy but due to the pure endangerment of lives by her hand he'd grown furious.

"Seebik told me it was just the usual routine!" She frantically told him. She knew they had to be behind this but she would've never helped her people do something like this.

His ire was only getting more aroused as she went on, "So thievery is usual!?"

"No it isn't!" She would've went on had Ben, who had heard enough, not stepped between them.

"Enough." Ben's tone was firm and final, a far cry from the vibes Ben's speech usually gave them. "Whether she knew or not can wait because right now we gotta stop whatever's going on."

Rook got over his initial surprise and nodded while mentally scolding himself for not thinking too clearly. "Forgive me, Ben. I wasn't focused."

Ben nonchalantly waved it off figuring the rookie was being too hard on himself. "It's cool, now come on."

"I'm coming along too." Ester stated firmly. "Even if I didn't know Seebik would do this, I'm still responsible for the damage done and I need to help fix it." She hoped her tone would get her honest conviction to the heroes in front of her even if she wasn't worthy of their trust.

"Fine." Ben didn't hesitate to agree as unlike Rook, he really didn't see anything suspicious to her character. She didn't strike him as the ruthless type or a liar. "But you're leading the way. Rook no doubt wants to keep his eyes on you."

"I do." Rook confirmed. "You're under suspicion until further notice."

Ben nodded and rolled his shoulders, "Alright, team's established so lets go."

**XXXXX**

"My Fellow Kraaho!" Seebik joyously yelled as he removed his jacket with flair, "Now it is our time to rise from the underground! Take up your arms and be ready to claim this world as ours!" The tribe cheered and began to grab one handed blasters.

"Seebik!" Roared Ester as she stomped towards the Chieftain, "What are you doing! You said you just wanted to warm the place up! Why is there magma making its way to the streets?"

"I am doing as I said." Seebik answered snidely. "Why did you aid the cold cuts?"

"Because you took it too far. This is NOT the kraaho way!" Ester growled defiantly. Seebik was always so grouchy, xenophobic, and callous but this was too much. She wouldn't stand for this.

Seebik's expression grew more heated than the Hotspot at the moment and he growled in her face. "Our people's way is what I say it is! Do not speak as you are truly one of us!"

From far away, Ben and Rook formed a plan. "Alright Rook, I need you to cause a distraction and lead the kraaho away while I," Ben transformed into an alien locked away in a big bulky metal suit known as NRG and continued, "go after the fusion core. Think you can do it?"

Rook smiled and primed his Proto-tool. "I am more than capable of covering you despite the heat. I've read up on some of your famous techniques of distraction."

"Oookay." Ben said awkwardly as Rook went over to the large group of kraaho. "Wonder what he's going to pull."

"HEY!" The Kraaho all turned towards Rook with a very large smile. "Look at me, I'm Mr. Rook!" He proceeded to pull out his Proto-tool and twirled it in hands, "Did you know that you all are quite horrendous to look at!" Then he tapped a Kraaho right on his snout. That was enough and the Kraaho proceeded to chase after him.

Ben shook his head and started making his way towards the core. He really hoped that wasn't one of his most famous "Techniques" as he stopped doing that when he was twelve. He took glances towards Rooks way to see how the new guy held up. He wasn't bad. He dispatched several of those Kraaho despite the heat affecting him. Ben could only imagine the burden of all that fur. He winced when the chief got involved but let out a sigh of relief when Ester stepped in and threw two of the goons holding her on him before jumping right into the fray.

All that happened and no one took notice of him. "Someone stop the armored cold cut!" Never mind. and he was so close too.

Two Kraaho stretched over to him and pulled him down. He formed a plan in that instant. "Please don't open me. You'll kill me if you do that!"

They grinned at each other and Ben grinned beneath his armor. Fools.

Once NRG's armor was opened, the red humanoid energy based life form flew up into the air and laughed, "Ha, you fell right for it! If only you were as bright as me!"

He went straight for the fusion core and Seebik yelled, "Don't let him -" Ben swallowed the energy ball inside before Seebik could finish, " - do that..."

"That was good ball of plasma but they always go right though me."He quipped as he began to channel the power through his arms until a spiraling ball formed in his hands. He took the ball an aimed it towards the drill machine. "Shield your eyes folks!" The ball was tossed towards the target and blinding flash of red light forced everyone except Ben to close their eyes. when they opened again, the machine was nowhere to be found save for the remains of super hot scrap metal.

Ben flew right down into his metal suit and transformed again. This time as Four Arms wearing his original outfit only with green replacing the white color. He was walking straight towards Seebik. "So you've won. Happy."

"Not quite." He said before he uppercutted Seebik high into the air. "Rook, get your cuffs. We've got our second criminal of the day!"

"Your arresting him?" Questioned Ester. She winced when Seebik landed right on Ben's fist belly first and knocked the air from his lungs.

"He straight up committed climate based crime. Of course he's going away." Ben answered as he went back to normal and let Seebik land in a heap. "And if anyone was hurt then he'll pay the price. And I'm not talking financially." He said with a foreboding tone as he glared at the sore Kraaho leader. Seebik weakly looked into Ben's eyes and tried to glare back but flinched under the hero's steely gaze. Ben wasn't an intimidating figure but when you got a short and painful beat down like Seebik, you knew it would be wiser to back down.

"But who will lead us?" A distressed Kraaho asked.

He flinched when Ben turned to him with a frown on his face. "After what you guys tried to do, be grateful I'm only taking him away. I'm sorry but that's a you problem."

"If I may." Rook spoke up as he hoisted up the Chieftain and cuffed him, "I would advise picking out someone not so destructive."

The Kraaho all began muttering to themselves, unsure of what to do with their leader being taken away by what they perceived as powerful warriors. Ester was beside herself, happy seebik was getting what he deserved but unsure for her people. Then she closed her eyes and thought of her father and how he lead the kraaho. "I will lead. And we will live in harmony with the other people of this planet."

Seebik barely managed to rasp out. "Coexistence with cold cuts? That isn't our way."

"No, it's not your way. But it was the way of my father. It is our way now!" She yelled towards her people. As the Kraaho began to bow one by one to Ester, she turned to Ben and smiled. "Thank you, Ben."

"No problem, Ester. Just make sure no one steps outta line." He said cheerfully, happy to give aliens another home, save lives, and kick butt. He leered at Seebik. "FYI, chief dick, there's such thing as a volcano literally in many places on the planet you guys could've asked transport to."

A few Kraaho snickered and Ester giggled while Rook's eyebrow rose. "Chief Dick?"

Ben rolled his eyes with a light smile gracing his lip, "I'll tell you when your older. For now, let's call up base for another haul."

From far away, the mysterious figure in a more outlying part of the Hotspot snickered. "Cooperation and intelligence. Fine skills for a prey worthy of my attention. Keep going, Ben Tennyson." The figure was racking up useful data on his prey and was eager to prove his skills as the greatest hunter in the Universe.

**XXXXX**

_**AN: Heyo, Happy Halloween you nutty kids. Catch more of my references and you get more cookies!**_

_**Chapter was shortened at the end since the fight would've just been from canon. Now We can do even more diverging! Yay!**_

_**Seebik honestly got off way too easy in canon considering what he caused and he was pretty unapologetic. Pretty sure people actually did die in that from the way they show the destruction that episode (Which is called "Hot Stretch"). No one died in canon I guess and here too though. Seebik is relatively getting off easy here too I guess but his ass is still going to Plumber Prison.**_

_**Responses:**_

_**Josh Spicer: I'm not gonna bash Omniverse through my story, don't worry. I'm not fond of bashing at all really. Don't get me wrong, I felt it was a let down but I enjoyed it. Wasn't a bad show and as a reviewer pointed out, it some good moments. Here's my show ratings: Ben 10 - 9, Ben 10 Alien Force - 9, Ben 10 Ultimate alien - 8, Omniverse - 6, Reboot - 4 (And I may be being generous).**_

_**Harem Lover 26: This is not a crossover in any way. No crossover characters, sorry. DMC 5 just fueled me in terms of style.**_

_**KillingTheShadows101: Shar will come. But I can't tell you more. Can't show my hand too early now.**_

_**Blaze1992: You'll see my dude. Ben has grown after all. And hell yeah, the ladies will get involved. A lot of them are not damsels in distress. Some will even try to kill him at first. Hero problems am I right?**_

_**PS: I hate using my phone to write.**_


	3. New Toys, New Allies, New Enemies, Oh My

"I gotta say Rook, you handled yourself well out there." Ben spoke before taking a bite of his burger. After the whole Kraaho ordeal, he and Rook decided to take a little break to enjoy their meals before they got any colder. They couldn't exactly wait for their orders but the manager did the duo a solid and held onto their meals until they came back from crime fighting.

In exchange, Ben had to take a photo with her son. He would've done that anyway had she asked, regardless of the favor, but whatever.

"I trained in martial arts long before I became a Plumber." Rook explained after gulping down his food, feeling honored by Ben's compliments. "I even invented some maneuvers with a fellow student of mine in the academy."

"Look at you." Ben chuckled after he finished his smoothie. "Aren't you hotshot underneath that fur."

"Hotshot?" Rook questioned, tilting his head slightly to the side.

"You're impressive is what I'm saying." Ben clarified. "You might even have a little bit of flare to you."

"I see." Rook commented uneasily, not sure how to take that. "Well, I'm glad you see worth and potential in me."

Ben was about to say more before his Omnitrix began ringing. He pressed a button and Grandpa Max, that chubby, lovable, old sod appeared on a hologram above the symbol. "Hey grandpa!"

"Maggister Tennyson." Rook said respectively, feeling slightly odd at hearing the maggister addressed so casually, even if it was a family member.

"Good to see ya, boys!" The jolly man stated back. "Just wanted to congratulate you and let you know your new ride is on its way to you."

"New ride?" Ben asked with a low amount of excitement in his tone. Ben was missing riding around in Kevin's car. It was extremely convenient when he wasn't busy doing maintenance or something.

"Oh yes. Can't have you doing your duties solely on foot." Max's grin grew wider that conveyed mischief brewing. "And Ben, you'll never guess who's coming over to deliver the goods."

"Really now?" Ben rhetorically asked. He had no clue but he wasn't going to let dear, old Grandpa know that. He would know soon enough anyhow as an old truck wildly drove up to the curb and parked sideways directly in front of them. It was an old, rusty, somewhat beat up truck with Max's logo that said "Max's Plumbing!" on it.

Ben didn't think much of it at first. Ben had no doubt it was some secret ship or something knowing Grandpa and the Plumbers sent it. What he found incredibly surprising was when the car door opened to reveal Lucy Mann, his Lenopann cousin by marriage. Her hair had grown out over the years and her outfit was reminiscent of her old one, a black shirt with a star in the center and a red skirt. Her purple eyes were still lit up with that same twinkle of mirth and mischief that dated back from her childhood.

"Heya cousin Ben!" Shouted Lucy from the driver seat. "Guess who your new squad member is!?"

"Oh my god." Ben whispered, shock consuming him until he turned back to his watch. "Grandpa!?"

"Surprise!" Max shouted. "The other maggisters and I figured we'd stick to the rule of three with you. We were on the fence about it but considering Lucy's credentials - "

"Credentials?" Ben repeated skeptically.

"We figured she'd be good for you to have around." Max finished. "And since you too haven't seen each other in a while, I had them keep it on the down low for you."

Ben would've rolled his eyes had this shocking news been his central focus. "I, uh," he turned back to the truck to see Lucy's nearly face splitting smile and wave at him. He awkwardly waved back, "alright, well this is good I guess. She can help me show Rook the ropes... maybe." He uttered the last word under his breath.

His grandpa's smile grew. "That's the spirit, Ben. I'll talk to you later."

"Yeah, later Grandpa." Ben said before he hung up. He turned back to witness Lucy rush up and pick him up in a great big bear hug. "Oof! Ugh, happy to see you too." He croaked. She was incredibly strong for her size.

"Aww!" Lucy gushed before plopping Ben back down on his seat and turning to his partner. "And you must be Rook!"

"I - Indeed!" Rook confirmed with a hint of nervousness and surprise in his tone. This young woman was quite high spirited and seemed just as questionable as Been but Rook figured if she was anything like her cousin, she was someone worthy of respect. Plus, she was the very first Lenopann to ever become a Plumber. He quickly regained his composure and saluted. "It's an honor to meet you. I've heard good things about though I had no idea you would be joining our "Hero Team", as Ben puts it."

"Me neither for the most part until they gave me my badge after I finished my exams. I was super duper excited when I got the news!" Lucy spoke swiftly and excitedly. "I mean, I haven't seen Ben since we were twelve and then there's you, a new guy! I have so many sights to show you!"

Rook momentarily glanced towards and uneasy Ben. His mentor shrugged and Rook responded with, "I look forward to it."

"Yeah." Ben said uneasily. Rook was already in the process of adjusting to earth and alien culture but with Lucy around, Ben knew his lessons would become harder to teach. And then there's Lucy herself, the excitable, mischievous puppy dog with a near infinite amount of tricks up her sleeve, or rather, in her mud. "This will definitely be interesting."

"Totally! I can't wait dish out some justice!" Lucy cheered, fist pumping into the air. She wanted to go on adventured alongside Ben and Gwen ever since Ben did his thing at the wedding and the craving for the excitement only grew after the small stuff they did when they were eleven. Her expression then turned into an oddly more cool one and she grinned at the pair. "So, do you gentlemen like my automobile?"

"Your auto, I mean, car?" Ben asked skeptically.

"Well, I was driving it, hehehe *snrk*!" Lucy always made that snorting sound whenever she laughed. Ben had to admit, it was kind of adorable. Rook found it odd but figured it was a Lenopann thing. "Come on, take a look at our Proto - Truk."

Ben stood up to get a closer gander of yet another Proto - product and Rook followed him, rather eager to see the ride for himself. Ben walked around the ride, giving it the nice once over before he look into the driver's seat. It was a rather disappointing sight to behold at first but Ben suspected there was more than meets the eye. "So, thing has a shape change mode, right?"

"Sharp as ever, Ben!" Lucy stated. If Kevin or childhood Gwen said that then he'd call them a smart ass on the spot.

"All Plumber issued vehicles should have a space craft mode even when in the guise of the local planet's vehicles." Rook explained before turning to Lucy. "May I? He asked with a certain child like enthusiasm that Ben took note of.

'Another gear head, huh?' The young hero mused.

Lucy nodded. "Oh yeah, show Ben the goods."

Ben snorted. "The goods, eh?"

"Indeed." Rook opened the dashboard, revealing a more high tech layout underneath, and pushed a few more buttons. In a matter of seconds, the old truck was now a high tech ship. "Behold the goods, Ben."

"One word." Ben spoke plainly as a smile wormed it's way onto his face, "Nice."

"Mrs. Mann, do you mind if I take a look inside the hood?" Rook asked asked moved over to the front of the spacecraft.

Lucy nodded though her smile left in favor of a light scowl and she folded her arms. "Only if you promise never to call me Mrs. Mann ever again."

"Uh, of course, thank you and apologies." Rook said nervously as he popped the hood and his eyes widened. "Oh my! Ben, do you see what I see?"

"I do." The young man answered simply. "Alien car parts."

"Indeed but they're quite the impressive alien car parts!" Rook said joyously. Ben figured he'd go techno - nerd crazy seeing whatever was inside. He wasn't much of a car guy himself and pretty much went with the rule of "as long as it works and floats" .

"Yep! I got a Detrovite NAV system, Gravitor boosters, Quilten nano ship transformers, and even tech hand crafted by some of the best Galven gear heads themselves as you can see by my engines!" Lucy explained. As previously stated, Ben wasn't much of a car guy, alien or not, so he assumed, based on Rooks growing smile, that these were some quality parts. He wondered what Kevin would say about all this.

Once they started getting deeper into the car conversation, Ben pretty much tuned them out and then wondered where all of this was heading. The team just disassembled last night and here he was already, an alien cousin, albeit who didn't know magic or was biologically related, and an alien guy, granted he was mentoring this one and Rook had yet to try to kill him. A part of him jokingly wondered if these two would get together too.

**XXXXX**

"Wow, did you guys repaint the place?" Lucy asked as she pulled the Proto - Truck up by Ben's home. Rook and Lucy were given their own living quarters at the Plumber base but Lucy wanted to drive her cousin home. Bond a little with a treasured family member.

"Yeah, well, technically just me. Shape shifting has other uses than just butt kicking." Ben answered, remembering the last time he accidentally destroyed a part of the home. His dad was pissed but his mom saw it as a good opportunity for a nice little remodel. Of course, Ben had no choice but to do most of the work.

"Right!? Especially when it comes to a little mischief, huh?" Lucy burst into a small giggle fit, thinking of all the pranks they could pull thanks to their powers while Ben felt a shiver run up his spine. A premonition no doubt.

"Yeeaah." Ben said slowly as they got out of the truck. He figured Lucy would wanna stop by to say hello to his parents who would no doubt be eager themselves to see her after so long. As soon as they got near the door, it swung open with Ben's mom rushing up to give her niece a big hug with his dad joining in with some restraint since Sandra was already smothering the girl in a big, warm bear hug. "Figures that would happen."

"Oh, little Lucy! It's so good to see you!" Sandra gushed as she and her husband released her. Had Lucy not been a Lenopann then she would be gasping for air that left her lungs and Ben would be praising karma.

Carl chuckled and shook his head, "Can't really call her little anymore can we?"

Sandra nodded in agreement, "Ben, Lucy, dinner's ready so you two come right own in. Oh, I can't wait to here about what you've been doing, sweetie." Sandra said as she led the family inside.

They didn't know it but they were being watched and the figure clad in an armor of bone and metal where only his pale green face was visible, was feeling particularly eager to make his move from a safe distance away and camouflaged in a tree. Soon, soon. "Psychobos, I'll have you're target soon. It's nightfall and no doubt nearly time for their resting period. Once the Lenopann leaves and the target slumbers, I'll strike."

"A-a-about time!" The irritating voice rang through the bounty hunter's communicator. The hunter prepared himself for a another small pride filled rant. "In the t-t-time that took for you t-t-to do mere surveillance, I could've c-c-captured five B-Bens!"

"Doubtful." Khyber retorted before he muted his communicator. Such an annoying client to work for. Had he been hunting any other prey for this scientist then he would have quit a long time ago and got himself a new set of carapace boots, but his love of these hunts kept him going. This client had the benefit of assigning him worthy quarry for interesting compensation which was both monetary and... practical.

One of those practical compensations would come in handy tonight. If Ben died then the hunt would be over and the greatest prey of the universe would be claimed. If Ben survived however, then that would mean Ben was somehow stronger than he thought and the great hunt would continue with greater challenges. A win - win outcome in truth.

**XXXXX**

Ben tossed and turned in his sheets, loudly snoring as his dreams of Sumo Slammers and cheerleaders played in his mind. A nice bit relaxation after the day's neighborhood watching. He was so deep within his slumber that he barely heard his window open and almost went back to sleep. His eyes didn't fully open until he heard a soft thud on his room's floor. On reflex, he swiftly rolled off his bed and onto his feet.

A dog like creature pounced upon oh his bed with its claws and fangs bared, primed to tear into his flesh like they did his sheets. Had he not rolled out of the way then he would've been in bloody shreds.

"It's too late for this shit!" Ben growled as he used his Omnitrix to turn into, "Stinkfly!" This Stinkyfly looked mostly like his original Stinkfly except for the symbol being moved to his chest.

The dog alien growled and pounced again only to receive a thick coat of mucus to the face and be caught midair by its paws. Ben Went out the window with the dog in his claws before tossing it out on the front lawn. He noticed the spiked red collar with the odd hourglass like symbol on it and commented, "Judging from that collar, I say you've got an owner."

Ben then stopped as he swore he heard a very faint whistle sound go off. His attention went back to the dog, or rather, the red light that enveloped the dog. The light faded to reveal that the dog was now a giant white lizard with a mostly white, slender body, red spikes and claws, four eyes, and maw filled with large serrated teeth. It hissed at him, giving him a better view of all those teeth.

Ben unleashed a volley of mucus at the beast only to see it release a yellow and green fog from its mouth that made his mucus dissipate into nothing. Ben cursed under his breath and dodged another lunge only to be struck by the prehensile tail as it quickly rotated its body midair, making him crash onto the ground. "Gah, alright then!"

Ben hit the symbol and transformed into Wildmutt, bigger than his previous incarnations, being slightly bigger than a car, and featuring three dark orange stripes on the top of his head, and roared. The lizard beast leaped at Ben and found itself caught midair again, slammed into the ground, and feel fangs dig into its windpipe while being violently shook against the pavement. The lizard struggled and flailed, releasing a cloud of that gas as it did so. It greatly irritated Ben's sensitive nostrils, making him toss the beast, who would now be dubbed Buglizard, away and into a car hard enough to completely flatten the front half.

"Ah, a carnivorous beast with no natural predator but hardly a threat to the batch we have." The hunter chuckled before releasing a whistling sound.

A sound that Ben clearly heard and made him recoil in slight pain. The lizard beast flipped itself back up and changed into some sort of large rhino beetle like monster covered in a tough grayish purple carapace on four spike legs that prodded into the ground. It charged at Ben, aiming to crush him to paste or return the favor of rag dolling him in its maw. Ben managed to get his wits about him and jumped over the beast's head, getting nicked on the left leg in the process, landed on its back.

Ben's claws lightly dug into the shell, not deep enough to reach muscle, and barely held on as it thrashed and squirmed to get him off. He growled as this would get him no where and released his grip to reach for his Omnitrix as he landed to turn into, "Four Arms! Come at me, beetle boy!" He said with a 'come hither" gesture with two of his hands. The Tetramand transformation's only difference form the original was his shirt was now green where the white used to be and his Omnitrix symbol was now on the center of a belt buckle.

The giant beetle beast, who Ben would now fondly call Crabdozer, charged forward and Ben latched on to his head. Ben's feet dug into the street as the force initially pushed him back and, using all of his strength, he flipped Crabdozer overhead. It landed with a loud, ground shattering boom and Ben pressed the advantage by jumping up on its exposed underside to unleash a series of blows. "Damn it, I'm not into beating animals so whoever you, come on out already!" He roared as his blows further embedded the beast into the streets.

"Hmm." The hunter hummed as he pulled out a sniper. "Sorry old friend, I was too careless." The hunter mentally scolded himself for being too invested in seeing the device in use and discarding the number rule: hunters use ALL of their advantages. That was why they struck at this time was it not? They've wasted time in playing with their prey, underestimating him, and now the prey knew of their existence, a great deal of what what they were capable of. But at least that meant the game would prove far more interesting and they too had more knowledge of their prey.

Ben heard a small bang and immediately jumped to the side, narrowly avoiding a sniper bolt aimed at his head. "Woah!"

"Such reflexes." The hunter praised before he whistled through his neck holes.

Crabdozer transformed, despite the intense pain, into some form of worm creature and burrowed away while Ben kept his focus out for the sniper. He dodged the sniper out of instinct in truth, learning to be wary of unknown gunshots do to his career. If he could just get a hint of where the bolt came from...

"Ben!" Came the cry of his mother from the front door, "Are you okay, hun!?"

"Mom, get back inside and get down! There's a snip - argh!" Ben screamed as he was thrown back by the dog's new form emerging from the ground. He got a clear view of it now. It was orange and red on the topside, tan on the underside. It had spikes going down its back, rows of vestigial legs on the sides, six red eyes, and, most noticeably, a large beak that helped it burrow in the earth. Slamworm would be a good name for it. "Just get back inside! I got this!"

"Okay! Just so you know, we called the Plumbers!" She told him as she casually walked back in.

The hunter, meanwhile, loaded another bolt and took a peak with his binoculars when he noticed something approaching Ben's location. He sighed. "Ah, so we've ran out of time then." He said somberly and whistled to call back his pet. They'd have to wait for another opportunity.

Slamworm heard its master's call and immediately flipped backwards into the earth, tunneling away from its adversary. Ben walked over to the hole and sighed, reverting back to his usual self. He looked around and saw the neighborhood emerge from their homes to see what happened. "Don't worry everyone! Someone was just trying to kill me with a shape shifting blue dog and a laser sniper! Return to your beds and snooze! Nothing out of the ordinary here!"

Most of the people reluctantly followed Ben's instructions while a few stuck around to take last minute pictures. As Plumber trucks arrived, Ben figured he would get no more sleep that night and begrudgingly readied himself for some questioning while rubbing his slightly sore leg.

**XXXXX**

"So let me get this straight: a blue alien dog attacked you at night and had the ability to transform into other aliens to fight you. And there was a sniper?"' Asked Blukic who stood alongside Driba. It was early in the morning and Max had gathered Ben's team, Blukic and Driba, and his fellow maggister Patelliday in the headquarter's briefing room to inquire on the attack from last night.

"Yes, Blukic, do you need me to draw a diagram?" Ben asked sarcastically, rather grumpy from his lack of sleep. Judging from the way Blukic expectantly looked at him, he figured his sarcasm didn't register and turned to his Grandpa. "Whenever I was something else, I heard this very faint whistle sound, barely audible. When I was Wildmutt, I heard the sound clearly and I think it made the dog transform."

"Aw, it's kinda like the dog version of you." Lucy cooed before giggling at the thought of a green shape shifting dog.

"Yeah, except more focused on taking lives rather than saving them." Ben groused, slumping in his seat.

Lucy hummed and put a hand on her chin. "True. It probably also follows directions and has a better diet too." She cheekily added.

Ben narrowed his eyes at that little jab. "Oi."

"Point is," Max spoke, getting the conversation back on track, "we've got a shape shifting dog led by an unknown marksman most likely after Ben."

"Not to mention they struck at one of Ben's more vulnerable moments. We are not dealing with a small time criminal." Rook added. Unlike most of the people in this room, Rook was heavily troubled once he heard the news. It was understandable since he's dealt with these type of situations the least, even Blukic and Driba had in depth knowledge about the troubles Ben went through and how he came out, but it was also the fact that this assailant was very new, as there were no files on them, and literally had an animal with abilities akin to Ben's.

Ben let out an explosive sigh and rose from his seat. "Guess that means we gotta strike back before that guy does. Question is though, where do we look?"

"Or who to look for." Patelliday spoke up. "You might be able to scruff somethin' up in Undertown but you shouldn't count on it. Big universe after all." He put a little emphasis on the word "might". For all they knew, this attacker worked alone or was hired by a dictator currently in another galaxy. Ben does have a civilization or two that literally hates his guts so long distance hits were plausible.

As the Plumber crew formulated ideas on possible leads, a scientist and a hunter worked out there issues of performance.

"I find your inc-c-competence most unsettling, K-K-Khyber." Came the voice of a small, blue Cerebral Crustacean on a screen who sneered down at the hunter. He was a rather unimpressive figure, even sporting a naturally large claw and a smaller claw barely the size of a small stick. "I expected you to be b-b-back with the watch or even the entire b-b-boy by now." Rather than disappointment, his tone of voice conveyed a smug mirth as if he barely expected Khyber to succeed at all.

Maintaining his professional demeanor, Khyber replied, "I underestimated him. A mistake I won't make twice."

Psychobos chuckled and narrowed his eyes. "Nor will I, great hunter, and I use the term loosely. You see, I have arranged for assistance since I doubt you'll be able to accomplish this t-t-task alone anymore."

Khyber's eyes widened and his composure began to sink in that moment. "You did what?" He almost mumbled, shocked at the news given to him.

"You heard me." Psychobos displayed an image on the monitor. It was a skeletal, pointy headed being. "His name is Psyphon and he once served under Vilgax himself as he fought against your very target. He has also amassed a group of thugs and scum who can assist in our endeavors."

"With all do respect, I need none of this." Khyber hissed, insulted at the very idea of sharing a quarry with some former lackey and his neanderthal goons. This was HIS hunt after all. Ben was now HIS prey.

"That's a shame, because I do." Psychobos casually told him, not at all concerned about Khyber's quickly rising frustrations. "I gave you a c-c-chance in respect of our long p-partnership despite my better judgement. However, your arrogance has led to incompetence and now my c-c-calculations say your c-chances are even slimmer. Too slim to be left on your own."

"Your calculations are worth less than my dog's dung." Khyber growled, fists clenching as he felt his anger rise.

Psychobos ignored him, considering his little comment worthless and short sighted, and continued. "You are to meet with Psyphon later today to formulate a plan to bring me the Omnitrix. Try not to fail at this, greatest hunter in all of the universe." The doctor's voice carried a nearly palpable sarcasm in that last part of his sentence and he immediately cut off the communication with his hired help.

Khyber almost seemed to release steam from his holes with all the fury now welled up inside of him. He turned to his dog, who lounged on the floor and licked at it wounds, and growled out, "When all is said and done, old friend, you will feed on what little brains that walking joke of a doctor has. And rest assured, we will be the ones to take the head of the mighty Ben Tennyson."

**XXXXX**

_**AN: Another Chapter! Hope my fellow Americanos had a wonderful Thanksgiving and even if you're not American, I hope you have something to be proud and thankful for in your life.**_

_**By the way, the "harem" is set. No need for suggestions as of now. I got plans.**_

_**Random tidbit of the day: wouldn't have been awesome if Ben 10 went the Samurai Jack route of maturity and grew up alongside its fan base and kept the heart of what made Ben 10 so cool in the first place? I think so. I certainly think we can all agree it would've better than the 2016 remake route they chose.**_


	4. Getting onto something

Ben yawned again and leaned back in his seat only to be jolted awake but a sharp bump in the road that made him hit the back of his head against his seat. He groaned and groggily turned to face his cousin as she turned on the radio to start jamming out to some tunes. "This isn't helping me, Lucy." He was still tired, still grumpy at his lack of sleep and he was trying to get some ob the ride. He should've known better.

Lucy took a slip of her slushy before cheerfully saying, "Oh Ben, you just don't have the right attitude. Right, Rook?"

Rook poked his head from the back seat to look directly at Ben with an apologetic smile. "Not to sound rude but I'm inclined to agree with Lucy. You had four hours of sleep. That should be sufficient for someone of your age and profession."

"Yeah, I'm still a growing young man." Ben rubbed his eyes and adjusted his seat. "Sleep is extremely important to my growth." He may be a hero but he still needed long periods of rest to recharge his batteries. Doesn't mean he couldn't go long hours without sleep but he sure as hell didn't want to.

"And someone's still gotta lot growing to do, don't they?" Lucy cooed, using her free hand pinch Ben's cheek to add on to the teasing.

She snickered when Ben slapped it away, clearly unamused by Lucy's little height barb. "Both hands on the wheel, "World's Best Driver". He taunted only for Lucy gleefully laugh it off.

After the debriefing the team was sent out to do some digging and see if anything would pop up on Ben's mysterious hunter in Undertown, the shantytown cesspool of alien fast food, farmers markets and cheap nick knacks with the occasional black market dealings. They were bound to find something there, even if was just a clue and nothing else. Undertown was a huge hub for alien activity on Earth.

Lucy parked the truck near the sewer and just on the edge of Undertown. "So, you have any idea who we're gonna visit first?"

Ben nodded, an idea having already come to mind on the possibility of finding some remotely useful information. "I got an idea. He's a kind of a prick but he can useful."

"Will meeting him require armor?" Rook asked, feeling a tad under prepared yet again.

"No Rook, he's the annoying, a figurative type of prick." Ben clarified before remembering some important info as he put on a different, black hoody to hide himself from the populace, "But watch his fur. If he did decide to be a literal prick, only Lucy and some of my aliens would be fine. Your outfit wouldn't cut it."

Rook saluted and put on his old cowl. "Understood."

**XXXXX**

The group followed Ben to some bar filled with numerous aliens drinking and eating all sorts relatively odd things while they played games, chatted, or just listened to the music the local band of rather large black eyed, gray aliens who were playing with their foreign instruments. It was a good jovial atmosphere despite the seedy area they were in. But the one thing that gripped Ben's attention was the one small alien in an orange jumpsuit with numerous pockets, one alien that seemed to be a fusion of a opossum and a porcupine.

Argit, the great con rodent of space. Sitting there, drinking his fizzy whatever it was as he fiddled around with some tech pad. Probably setting up another deal, a double cross of some sort. He was always up to something incredibly shifty that could earn him some choice stuff, money, and/or especially both.

Ben smirked, excited to freak the guy out but knew better than to frighten too hard him lest he be put to sleep... actually, that thought kinda pleased him. But he had work to do. He causally walked up the bar and pulled up a stool beside the rodent, Lucy and Rook following his lead, and then said, "Sup, Argit."

Argit twitched and turned to Ben with a startled gaze, squeaking out, "What, Tenny -"

"Ah, yeah, shush." Ben interrupted him and spoke again, "We're trying to be covert here."

"We?" Argit questioned. He looked behind Ben to see Rook, looking back at him with a stern gaze, and Lucy, who smiled and waved. He didn't like either of them, one was clearly a typical cop type and the other had to have a quirk that wouldn't bode well for him. "What, you decided to replace Kevin and your scary as hell cousin?"

"Oh, you think Gwen is scary?" Ben questioned with a quirked brow. "You're just meeting Lucy and you don't wanna meet Sunny." Behind him, Lucy playfully growled and he ignored it, "Besides, the old team's off to college."

"Kevin? Education?" Argit had to hold back a condescending chortle, moving on to the big question he wanted answered. "How'd you find me anyway, we haven't seen each other in months, maybe a year!"

"Dude, Undertown spreads word of A - holes fast and you're literally the only Skaven on the planet. Face it, you're sloppy when it comes to avoiding notice." Ben smirked at the con man's clear agitation. It always fun getting under bad guy's skin, even in more subtle ways. "So, pick up on anything interesting around here?"

Argit's nose twitched and he folded his arms. "If I did, why would I tell you?"

Lucy spoke up. "Because we asked nicely?" She was far too sweet for Argit's liking. He made a note to watch her.

"If you don't, we could take you in for questioning." Rook apathetically yet sternly added, making Argit tense up some more. He hated cops.

"Yeah, basically both those things and I'll glue your quills together again," Argit shook but he didn't seem to be budging as much as Ben would like so he added, "and I'll mix in Stinkfly's gunk."

That got Argit to fidget more noticeably, glue was one thing but his nose was sensitive, and he nervously spoke, "Well... I do hear some things now and again."

"Such as?" Ben urged him on.

"Okay, but you gotta promise me that this conversation never happened. I haven't done anything wrong either except sell safe snake oil. Legally, mind you."

Ben checked up on Rook who looked towards him to clarify. "He sells useless crap to gullible people thanks to his lies." The Plumber seemed practically ready shake down the Skaven, making Argit nearly jump, and Ben explained further. "No, that itself isn't illegal, unfortunately."

His partner begrudgingly sat down and Argit let out a quick sigh of relief. "Anyway, word on the streets is a few of the low level scum dwelling here are layin' low and rounding up. Sayin' something about a big score." That info dump definitely gained the interest of the Plumbers as it brought to light another issue but that didn't really offer them much, if anything, on the target of interest now. "What?"

Ben narrowed his eyes. "And?"

Argit twitched and he quickly stated. "That's pretty much it."

"No, there's gotta be more than that. Come on, I know you." Ben pried on, clearly skeptical on Argit's lack on info. He didn't want to outright say why they were here in the first place and merely insisted on more information. There had to be something Argit could tell them on that mystery assassin or possibly linked to him. "Tell me what you really know."

"Hey back off, man. That's literally all I know, those goons got nothing I want this time." Argit's response was a mixture of angry and fearful at Ben's persistence. Judging from the way he reacted, Ben had a feeling there may be truth to his words.

That wasn't good enough when it came to Argit though.

"That can't be, wait." Ben halted mid sentence as the bar went silent. Everyone stopped talking and the musicians stopped playing mid song. "Did anyone else hear a distant boom?"

As if on cue, a loud boom was heard outside the bar, sending most of the occupants into panic save for the bartender, the Plumbers, and Argit... sort of. The bartender armed himself while behind the counter and the Plumbers raced outside, Argit close behind. Never a good idea to stay in a building during explosion based attacks. Not enough escape routes in his opinion.

The moment Ben immediately open the bar doors and set foot outside, he jumped back and knocked his companions on the floor, all of them narrowly avoiding the broadside of a hovercraft to the craniums. Argit, who was further behind, swore he felt some of his quils get taken off.

Ben brought his head up to see what appeared to be three high tech bikers racing off in the distance. He knew exactly who the speeding biker was based off her color scheme alone. "Guess Rojo's back in town."

"Oh, is she that red biker chick!?" Lucy shot, beaming at the prospect of finally meeting one of Ben's prime enemies. She was even more eager at the prospect of kicking their evil butts into the nearest cell. "This will be so cool!"

"I've read her files. Quite the dangerous earth female." Rook said he grabbed Argit before he could scurry away and the shaven nervously chuckled, whittling under Rook's glare. "Do you think I'm ready?"

"If you manage to take away her toys and her bike, she ain't much. More so can be said for her old croonies if they're around." Ben explained as he quickly went through the watch to turn into the blue reptilian speedster known as, "XLR8! Try to keep up, gang and don't lose Argit!" He told them in his raspy voice before shooting off in hot pursuit of the criminals in a light blue and black blur.

Meanwhile, Rojo, the redhead biker woman decked out in black and red armor, speed off on her hover bike, holstering her laser rifle as she muttered distastefully. "Crumby bastards nearly scuffed up my ride."

A raspy, clicky voice said next to her, "Shame I'm about to straight up trash it." She turned towards the side and saw a Kincceleran speed up next to her and said Kincceleran had the Omnirix symbol on his chest. "Been a while, Rojo."

"Not long enough!" Rather than try to blast the speedy alien, she turned up her bike's throttle and blast off into the air while knocking Ben away with force of her propulsion. She planned on flying out into the open through one of the pipes above Undertown but suddenly felt herself weighed down by another person with a large backpack hanging on the side via grappling hook. That person was Rook.

"Cease your actions and come down at once!" He yelled both in order to sound authoritative and be heard over the sound of Rojo's thrusters.

Rojo pulled out her rifle and aimed it at Rook's face. "And if I don't!?"

She nearly did a double take when Rook's backpack jiggled and, before she could even blink, spawned purple tendrils that restrained her hands, holding the gun away from Rook, and turned the steering on her hover bike. It spawned a face, purple eyes and a mouth the spoke, "Time for you to pull over!"

"What the hell!?" Rojo was both perplexed and feeling her rage grow as that Lenopan was hijacking her ride and making them plummet to the streets below. "At least ease the damn thing down!"

"Don't worry, your ride's gonna crash into one of the pipes, far away from the populace! As for me and Rook!" Lucy suddenly pulled back some tendrils, releasing her grip on Rojo, but not before she jerked the hover bike hard and threw Rojo off balance.

"Ha! Take that evil doer!" Lucy shouted as she formed a ball Rook. Her face was on the outside of it and her mocking smile turned upside down. Rojo actually managed to balance herself before she hit one of the pipes below and used her hovercraft's thrusters to push back. "Guess I'm not the only capable driver in these parts. Neat!"

She landed with a loud and messy splat but remained unaffected. Rook, who was cushioned from the fall, shook some mud off of his body. "I do not see how this would be something praise, Lucy."

"Yeah, Don't sound so excited to get torched!" Rojo roared, pulling out a compact rectangular object that that transformed into a weapon that required her to rest the back of it on her shoulders. "Nobody steers my girl except me!"

She was going to blast the Plumbers had the Kincceleran Ben not shoulder charged her off her ride. She was sprawled out on the dirt, weapon out of her hand, and looked up to glared at the now unmasked XLR8. "You're not much of a threat without your bike."

She swiftly pulled out laser pistol from her hip holster and blasted at nothing but air before she felt a hard blow not the gun from her hand and she felt the weight of a black ball on reptilian leg press on on her wrist. "Really Rojo?"

"Like I'll go down like one of your groupies." She spat back, furious at letting herself get taken down so easily by Ben and his new crew.

"Yeah, you go down easier than them." Ben retorted as he returned to his normal form. Lucy immediately lashed out and bound Rojo's arms in her mud arms, much to Rojo's disgust and discomfort. Ben turned to his companions and worriedly asked, "Guys, where's Argit?"

"We had to let him go but I subtly placed a tracking device into his fur." Rook said with the utmost confidence. It faded upon seeing Ben smile in way one would when I child made a mistake out of ignorance.

"Ah okay, we'll go over why that was a bad idea after we chat with Rojo." Ben turned to the pinned woman who thrashed and cursed at her predicament. Her glare didn't faze Ben one bit but she didn't seemed too worried herself though disgusted. "First things first, what was that all about? Someone look at you funny again?"

"Ass hats try to make off with my ride behind my back." She told him plainly. "What? I'm supposed to let them do that?"

"No, but lashing out like that was ridiculous. Thought you actually got smarter." Rojo, despite the years that had passed, was still an unhinged anarchist and bounty hunter with a crazy arsenal behind her with some damn fine motor skills. However, she wasn't the type to cause random mayhem anymore. She was smart enough to not stir up trouble so randomly like that and she usually wasn't so sloppy. Granted, new partners, new tricks probably made this easier and all thanks to the first time effect but still.

"Didn't know we were on such good terms you could thinks so highly of me, shrimp." She sniped back unamusedly. She snorted, looking to the side before looking back at Ben. "Got carried away. Sue me. Been on edge lately."

"Oh yeah," Ben got closer and said in a lower, more edged tone, "what for? Last I checked, you're not easily spooked."

"Why not go take a look for yourself, smart guy." She gestured with a nod to the east side of Undertown. "Some goons have been plundering goods left and right. Would've snagged my stuff too if I didn't blast 'em. Couldn't sent a message if you hadn't got in my way."

Where inconvenience crept up, convince possibly pulled up. Goons into plundering, like Argit said and to the point they'd try to screw with Rojo, was definitely something to look into. On the other hand, it could be just another "Big Time Heist" nonsense that would get in the way of the investigation though this was a more serious problem since it was on a wider scale. Maybe they'd get lucky enough that the sniper and that beast would come out again. This time Ben would have some back up and could track the guy down this time. Maybe they'd get lucky and could kill two birds with one stone.

Either way, the Plumbers would be getting all up in this mess.

But first, there was Rojo who squirmed in Lucy's mud, "Hey Lucy, make sure you've got a good grip on her. She's as slippery as she looks."

"Ha! She faces a being twice her slipperiness." Lucy cackled like a madwoman, which Ben knew was for show, and was no doubt getting a kick out of making Rojo less than comfy. Seems as though Ben was gonna have to be the good cop out of the three.

"Where the hell did you find this one?" Lucy's little front must've been working, judging from the way Rojo subtly recoiled.

"She was a gift from the little shop of oddities. They had another discount on weird alien cousins." Ben nonchalantly explained. He secretly planned to use that line at some point the moment he got out of the Proto - Truck.

Rojo blanched. "Ugh, another one." She wondered just how odd the hero's family could get.

"Ben, Lucy." Rook gained their attention. He had his proto - tool out in blaster mode and pointed at the way they came. "We have a crowd approaching and they do not look welcoming."

"Oh?" Ben then saw an approaching mob of various aliens, about a dozen of them, that held a variety of weapons in their hand. "Alright, Lucy, think you can take Rojo back to the truck?"

Lucy twisted her arms around and brought Rojo to her back, carrying the bounty huntress in a cocoon of her mud. "Of course! You and Rook got this motley crew?"

Rook started firing off a few shots that knocked the guns from a few of the goon's appendages. "I believe I'm capable of assisting Ben."

"That's the spirit!" Ben said as he changed into, "Humungousaur! Time for some crowd control!" The dino - like alien jumped into the crowd, throwing them this way and that from the power of his landing, and his fists began to fly as Rook kept his distance to blast some thugs here and there. Lucy had bolted from the scene as fast as her mud made legs could go.

"Rather odd for them to do this!" Rook yelled as he ducked under a blaster bolt and returned fire.

"Not really!" Ben grabbed a goon and tossed him atop another while using his tail to swat another away. "People can attack over the dumbest things!"

His proto - tool was now in close combat mode and used it to parry a switch blade strike. "But all this for Rojo's motor vehicle!?" He asked as he spun kicked the goon in one of his faces. "It's finely made but hardly worth this!"

"We'll interrogate them later!" Ben brought up two goons and smashed them together. He yelped when felt a decent blast hit him across one of his cheeks and turned to the nervously sweating alien who clearly shot him there. "RRAAAARGH!"

That goon, now sweating bullets, in particular felt as though he and his companions had thrown themselves to the Loboans.

While Ben and Rook thrashed some baddies, Lucy Used her body clear the distance as quick as she could. It didn't take her long to reach the Proto - Truck but what surprised her was what she found. Three unconscious guys were tied up and gagged next to the vehicle. In front of them stood a pink skinned alien young woman in a coat. "I take it you guys aren't friends."

"Oh, hello!" The woman said, somewhat caught off guard by Lucy's sudden appearance and the fact she was carrying someone on her back. "I saw you guys fly in and these guys approached rather suspiciously. And in case you were wondering, they were up to more than just stealing your tires." She said gesturing to a laid out bunch of tools next to her.

" I see." Lucy said slowly as she checked her out. "Welp, Thanks for helping, I gotta go!" Lucy rushed to the truck, eager to toss Rojo inside the haul but the women hastily grabbed onto her wrist.

"Wait." The woman immediately let go and coughed into her hand. "Can I come?"

Lucy cocked her head and raised a brow as she asked, "Why?"

"I know a guy and I think you work with him." The woman answered cheerfully.

Said guy transformed into his human form and stretched out his neck. "Well, now we just gotta wait for Lucy." Ben turned to one of the few goons still awake if greatly in pain and asked, "So, anyone wanna tell me what that was about? You guys were awfully desperate to try and take on Rojo then me and my squad."

"Urgh... get... shucked." The alien croaked out.

Rook regarded that goon curiously. "Ben, I'm not familiar with that term."

"Yeah, that goon might be too busted." "Ben sighed and turned to another goon trying to crawl away, shrimp man. "How about you?"

"Zassif... ack min ik." It said through it's mandibles.

"Did not understand a lick of that." He replied dully.

Rook shook his head and put a hand on Ben's shoulder. "He was insulting your hair. Quite harshly too"

"Noted. Screw you too, shrimp guy."Ben nonchalantly kicked the crawling alien's butt which caused him to fall over in a painful heap. It was petty, sure, but the alien did shoot at him. "Well, I guess it's off to the official interrogation station for you lot! The the slammer!" Any of the aliens awake groaned in both pain and frustration. "Hey, guys got in our way today, quit griping."

Rook decided to offer an optimistic outlook on what they did. "At the very least, Undertown will be safer."

Ben shrugged. "Eh, not majorly but it's a step in the right direction." He heard the sound of ship engine approaching and turned to see Lucy in the Proto - Truck. She landed a few yards away, less reckless than when she made her first appearance. "Heh, about time."

Lucy popped her head out of the window with a wide smile. "I'm back! And Ben, I brought your other friend!"

"Hey Ben!" Came the voice of Ester. Lucy moved her head to reveal the alien girl waving. "This isn't a bad time is it?"

"Not at all, we just finished cleaning up."

"No we didn't." Rook was confused by Ben's wording until it clicked after a second. "Oh, you meant by beating the criminals. Yes, we are cleaner."

"There ya go." Ben jovially chortled and turned back to the approaching Kraaho. "So, not that I mind but why are you here?"

"I originally spotted you guys come when I was just going out to buy some food."

"She saw some strangers approach my baby and promptly handed them their butts." Lucy interrupted, pumping her fist in the air. She liked this /ester girl already.

"Yep and then she brought me here." She nervously chuckled before her lips curled into a frown. "Ben, you know anything about some alien named Psyphon?"

Ben's eyes widened at that name which he hadn't heard of for awhile now. "Psyphon? Yeah, Vilgax was his sugar daddy up until I beat him and Psyphon got desperate for revenge then went off to parts unknown. Why?"

"Some guys were out recruiting the more useful and troublesome of Undertown. They happened to mention the name of their boss and I figured what better guy to talk to a potential crime boss other than you." Ester explained. It's not like she knew a lot of Plumbers anyway.

"And you know this because they just so happened to try and talk to you or your people about joining?" She nodded. Ben snorted and spoke with a dry tone. "That figures. We got a lead now at least."

"Does this mean we need Rojo?" Lucy gestured to said captive now cuffed and sitting in the back of the Proto - Truck.

"No, but she might be up to more stuff and she did use unnecessary force." Ben reasoned.

Lucy rolled her eyes and chimed in with, "Also you don't like her."

Ben shamelessly nodded. "That too."

"All of my hatred, runt!" Said criminal screamed from the back of the ship.

Ben was never one to throw away a moment for sarcasm. "Love you too, Rojo!"

Anything more that was going to be said was interrupted by a call all the Plumbers received. "Alpha squad, can you hear me!?" Came a southern accented female voice.

"Loud and clear./ Affirmative./ Yep!" The Plumbers responded.

"Return to base immediately, we have a data breach! I repeat, return to base immediately!"

**XXXXX**

_Several__ minutes before..._

"I could have easily done this on my own."

"Quit complaining. Remember who's got more to give here. Now go. Time is of the essence, hunter."

Without another word, Khyber planted the alien flash drive into the data network of the Plumber Base and began working his way into the data files of Ben, his watch, and his partners. He didn't show it, but Khyber was amazed and fascinated by what he saw and realized just how little he knew. The word of his exploits alone did Ben little justice. All of these struggles against numerous foes, all the allies he had at his back, the power of the prototype Omnitrix alone. It made him giddy but him aware of just how much his arsenal needed expansion. He needed more DNA to win.

While Khyber contemplated on the situation of his prey, one file in particular stuck out to the man who was given a live feed of the downloads... "Malware?" The voice in Khyber's comm muttered with interest. "That's new to me."

**XXXXX**

_**AN: The artist who made the art I'm using is Promsien! Go check out her Tumblr, she's amazing! Do it now! Yes, I got her permission to use it. I literally couldn't find her at first when I used the artwork and thank goodness I did. I asked her anonymously and bam! **_

_**Another chapter and the next one will give us a blast into the past. Hopefully, you and you're families are healthy. And, none of you are going stir crazy from being bound indoors. Hope this ****provides**** some entertainment at least.**_

_**You know, I watched some more of Ben 10 2016 and I must say, it ****doesn't**** deserve to be hated. It's one of the better reboots in ****comparison**** to stuff like TTG, shit like Powerpuff Girls 2016, and that new Thundercats pile of shit that I refuse to ****acknowledge**** any further. Calling old fan's opinions poop and THEN making malicious fun of a dead VA... they can go fuck ****themselves with iron rods**** for that last one.**_

_**Anyway, moving on from the negativity, remember the ****original**** Ben 10 and his fights? Comparing that to the Omniverse, Ben used to go hard, like damn, I felt some of those, and he was frickin' 10 years old. The fights seemed so tone down compared to what it was and Ben, to me at least, seemed way cooler in the original and Alien Force, especially when he brawled. As always, feel free to disagree.**_

_**Stay alive and stay well! Love you guys and again, shout to Promsien!**_


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